INDIANAPOLIS – Before the Seahawks could even finish shaking
the confetti from their jerseys, there was already talk emerging from the NFL's
31 other corners that their defenses needed to become more like Seattle's.

That meant becoming more aggressive and building quality
depth across the defensive line. It also meant finding defensive backs that are
long, lean and athletic. The first two aspects can be replicated if teams
manage to find the right pieces. But as far as the last point is concerned,
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll isn't too worried about teams ripping off his philosophy.

"Everybody would like to longer, taller guys that run 4.4,"
Carroll said. "But there just aren't many humans like that in the world. It's
rare when you find them. Then you have to develop them.

"The perfect guys aren't there. There's no really tall,
exceedingly fast guys other than a handful. You have to make those guys come to
life through your coaching and how you adapt their style and ability to fit it.
We've been doing it for a long time and always been looking for longer guys
because we have such a commitment to bump-and-run press corners. This goes back
20 years. It's not new for us.

"It's rare that you can find them. When we had Brandon
(Browner) and Richard (Sherman) playing you can't get any longer than that.
That's the two tallest corners that played together, arguably in the history of
the league. OK, let's go do that. There's no players like that. There's only a
couple guys who are over 6-foot-1 at corner. That's just how it goes.

"I love people trying to copy that. Get a bunch of tall guys
out there. That's awesome."

In other words, don't expect New England's secondary to
suddenly undergo a rapid growth spurt.